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  His mother stirred. Cameron paused and looked down at her. Samson was terrified that Cameron would shoot her. You have to get that gun away from him. And then what? Mr. Lumberjack was fucking huge, and Samson didn’t stand a chance in a fistfight. Cameron would break his face with a single punch.

  Samson frowned when he felt someone behind him. When he looked over his shoulder, it wasn’t a person but a cougar and a wolf.

  Eric’s head was low, his ears pinned back, his canines showing as he moved down the hallway. Samson moved to his left, keeping his back against the wall as Cameron stared curiously at him.

  Mr. Lumberjack hadn’t seen the shifters yet.

  “What’re you doing?” Cameron asked. “Move down the hallway to the door.”

  Samson wanted Cameron away from his mother, so he slid to his right, entering the hallway, moving past the cougar and wolf as they slowly advanced forward.

  “He’s got a gun,” Samson whispered to Eric. “Don’t you dare get shot again.”

  But Eric didn’t look up at him. There was murder in his eyes as he moved into the living room. Chaos erupted. The gun went off as the snarled rang out and a heavy thunk sounded in the room.

  Samson raced back in there, determined to get to his mother. But he stopped hard when he entered the living room. Cameron was down, and there was blood around his throat. Samson quickly looked away. But instead of animals, two naked men stood there, and Samson recognized Deputy Vince Stransky.

  He wanted to throw himself into Eric’s arms, but Samson hurried toward his mom and dropped to his knees. He gently shook her shoulder. “Mom, wake up.”

  She had a nasty bump on her forehead as she groaned and her eyelids fluttered open. It was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

  “What happened?” She touched her forehead and winced. “I had the remote in my hand, and then…” She furrowed her brows. “Then—” Her eyes went wide. “Cameron! He was here!”

  “Everything is okay, Mom.” He helped her to the couch, where she sat.

  “I’ll get her to the clinic,” Vince said. “She needs that bump looked at.”

  Her gaze swung to the two naked men, and her eyes widened. Samson wanted to punch Vince when the bastard winked at her.

  “You’re mated.” Eric shoved at his shoulder. “I’m pretty sure Maltese would grind your balls into dust.”

  Vince scowled. “One, I’m trying to make her feel more at ease about leaving with me. Two, I might be mated, but I can still appreciate a beautiful woman.”

  Samson jabbed a finger into the guy’s naked chest. “Keep your paws off my mom.”

  The deputy rolled his eyes. “I’m gay, Samson. She might be beautiful, but she does nothing for me.”

  “Hey!” His mom looked indignant. “I’m sitting right here.”

  Samson stormed down the hallway and into his bedroom for a pair of jogging pants. At this rate, he would have to buy more since he kept giving them away. When he returned to the living room, he shoved them at Vince. “Put these on.”

  “What about Jacoby?” he asked. “He’s naked.”

  Samson spun and pointed to the hallway. “Get into my room until my mom leaves.”

  He turned back around when his mom squeaked. She was looking at Cameron’s dead body.

  “Just follow me.” Vince used his body to shield her gaze from Cameron while he walked her toward the hallway.

  “You better bring her back,” Samson said. “I want her just the way you found her, minus the goose egg.”

  “We found Micah passed out cold,” Eric said, his voice pulling Samson around.

  “Is he okay?”

  Eric nodded. “I think just his pride was injured.”

  Knowing his mom would be all right and Micah, too, Samson finally flung himself into Eric’s arms, never wanting his mate to let him go.

  “I love you.” Samson rained kissed all over Eric’s handsome face. “I love you so much.”

  “Let me make a call to get rid of the body, and you can show me just how much.”

  That might take a while since Samson planned on showing Eric every single day what his cougar meant to him. He grabbed his mate’s hand and led him from the living room. Samson didn’t want to keep staring at Cameron.

  “We need to move,” Samson said when he pulled Eric into his bedroom. “This place isn’t gonna be big enough for us, and I don’t want to live in a home knowing someone was killed here.”

  “It’s on my list of things to do.” Eric pressed his phone to his ear, and as he talked, Samson curled into his mate’s arms, feeling safe and loved.

  * * * *

  Samson was on his knees, planting flowers by the front porch when Eric got home. He sat in his Rubicon in the driveway and watched, still amazed at how much he loved the guy. His chest ached and his heart swelled as he stared at Samson in his big sun hat and gardening gloves. Would he ever tire of the sight of Samson?

  Nope. Eric never would.

  He got out and closed the door before heading over to his mate. “The flowers look great.”

  Samson gazed up at him and smiled. “You weren’t looking at the flowers. You were staring at my ass.”

  “Busted.” Eric chuckled. “Where’s your mom?”

  “At work.” Samson got up and pulled his gloves off, tossing them to the grass. “Why, you want to frisk me?”

  Eric pulled his handcuffs from his utility belt and let them dangle on one finger. “Get inside.”

  With a snicker, Samson took off into their house. Their house. After the death of Cameron, Eric had bought a house in Brac Village, close to town so that Samson and Mirabelle could walk to work if they chose to.

  Yes, he had moved her in with them, and although that stifled a lot of the freedom they would have had when it came to sex, Eric loved having her there with them.

  “She left about an hour ago,” Samson said as he headed inside. “So we have all the time in the world to get noisy.”

  Eric snorted. “You’re the noisy one.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Samson raced up the stairs and into the bathroom, Eric hot on his heels.

  They slipped into the shower where Eric washed his mate from head to toe and then spun him around. “Grab the wall and spread ’em.”

  “You’re frisking me now?”

  “I can’t help it.” Eric shackled Samson’s hands behind his back with one hand, running the other over his mate’s chest. “You look good all wet and shit.”

  Thank fuck they had their own bathroom attached to their bedroom. Eric kept waterproof lube stocked in the shower for just this occasion.

  He slicked his fingers and inserted two into Samson’s ass. With his cheek pressed against the shower wall, Samson moaned, wiggling his ass as Eric stretched him.

  “If you don’t get your dick inside me, I just might come before the action even begins.”

  “We can’t have that,” Eric said against the shell of Samson’s ear. “I want to feel how tight your ass grabs my dick when you come.”

  He removed his fingers and pressed his cock against Samson’s wet, slicked hole. Samson cocked one leg up, and Eric grabbed his waist as he inched inside his mate’s body.

  “Oh fuck,” Samson moaned. “You got me drooling.”

  “I’m gonna have your dick drooling in a second.” He gripped Samson’s hips and lifted his mate for a better angle. The guy was too damn short. Maybe Eric would install a stepstool in the shower.

  “Too late. That’s already happening.”

  “Yeah?” Eric curled his fist around Samson’s hard cock and stroked it as he thrust inside his mate’s tight ass. “Mine’s drooling, too.”

  Samson hissed as he leaned his head back, sliding a hand around Eric’s neck. As they kissed, Eric thrust faster, grinding his cock deep, in love with every inch of his mate’s compact body as the hot water pelted his back.

  “Close,” Samson whined. “So close.”

  Eric moved his fist faster, punching his
hips forward as he bit into Samson’s shoulder.

  His mate cried out as he came, his spunk hitting the shower wall, his ass tightening around Eric’s cock, squeezing it. He licked the wound closed and threw his head back, yowling out his release.

  When he eased out of Samson, Eric spun him so they could face each other. He stared into Samson’s dark blue eyes as the water at his back grew cold.

  “I love you.”

  Samson bit Eric’s lower lip. “Love you, too, but we need to get out before our balls crawl inside us.”

  With a chuckle, they headed into their bedroom. Eric watched as Samson dressed, thankful he’d found his mate in that muddy mess from the rains.

  Samson was his entire world, and Eric would do whatever he had to in order to protect him. They’d come a long way since they first met, and Eric planned on enjoying the ride that was their life together.

  Every single day for many years to come.

  THE END

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  Table of Contents

  SHADOWS OF DOUBT

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve